League of Legends’ dragons are having their wings clipped in next week’s Patch 9.24b.
Riot lead gameplay designer Mark “Scruffy” Yetter shared some quick gameplay thoughts on the Dev Corner today, detailing all the changes hitting the Rift in next week’s Patch 9.24b. While dragon nerfs are certainly a focal point, Lethality and Support items will also be followed up on in future patches.
Dragon Souls and Elder buff
Scruffy admits that dragon souls and the Elder Dragon buff are “stronger” than they should be. But there are definitely specific dragon souls that are far more devastating than others, especially when playing from behind.
It seems like the Ocean Soul, which heals and restores mana when dealing damage to enemies, is outpacing the rest. Winning a teamfight against a team regenerating wild amounts of health in the late game is quite the handicap. The Ocean Soul will be getting hit harder than the rest in Patch 9.24b.
Infernal and Mountain Souls will each receive “moderate nerfs” in next week’s update. Though Ocean is the clear frontrunner, Infernal Souls deal a destructive explosion every three seconds to a target and nearby enemies. Mountain Souls give a shield to the team that possesses them, which is especially powerful on tankier squads. The Elder Dragon buff has proved troublesome to teams that fall behind, making it virtually impossible to stage a comeback. It’ll be toned down next week as well.
The Cloud Soul is the only dragon buff not getting nerfed in Patch 9.24b. It’s certainly the weakest of the four, but the extra movement speed does have its uses for engage or disengage team compositions.
Lethality and Support items tweaked
Lethality items are a “bit underpowered across the board,” according to Scruffy. The build path will be made stronger by increasing Serrated Dirk’s attack damage by five. This should improve Lethality users in the early game. And Edge of Night will also have its AD increased by five so that it’s a viable option against mage and CC-heavy enemy teams.
Though support items won’t change in next week’s update, Patch 10.1 will introduce some adjustments. Riot devs want to differentiate the state lines between “aggressive” and “defensive” options. To do that, Relic Shield and Steel Shoulderguard will have some of their offensive stats converted into health regeneration. Spectral Sickle and Spellthief’s Edge, on the other hand, will have some of their health changed to mana regeneration. An increase to the tier-three quest goal will also occur to remove the farming penalty.
